A vexed P Uthayakumar plans to apply for an injunction to prevent the home minister and inspector-general of police from ‘harassing’ him and his family.
The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader said he holds Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan responsible for this.
Uthayakumar, who also intends to lodge a police report soon, said this has been going on for the last 18 months.
More recently, he claimed to have seen a white van parked near his condominium for the past two weeks, with policemen moving in and out of the vehicle.
This, he said, has confirmed his suspicion that he is under round-the-clock surveillance. He also believes that his phone conversations are being tapped.
“It is a violation of my civil liberties and individual freedom, as provided under Article 5 of the federal constitution. The police are not even sparing my in-laws, nephews and nieces,” said Uthayakumar, who is a lawyer.
He cited separate incidents that took place at his condominium in Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur, over the weekend.
The first occurred on Saturday while he was in Penang to meet Hindraf activists At the time, only his in-laws and four of their grandchildren were at home.
At about 11pm, he said five policemen paid a ‘courtesy call’ but “left after asking questions about me”.
“But their threatening and intimidating manner scared the living daylights out of my in-laws,” he told Malaysiakini.
The police also allegedly took photos inside and outside the apartment.
Second incident
The second incident happened on Sunday night when Uthayakumar had returned home. This time there were only two policemen.
“I told them to nab the real criminals outside rather than wasting their resources by monitoring me,” he said.
“This form of harassment is tantamount to a police state and reflects badly on the home minister, IGP and above all, the prime minister.”
When contacted, Uthayakumar’s younger brother and fellow Hindraf leader Waythamoorthy (right) slammed the police intrusion as “unlawful” given that they did not show a search warrant.
He questioned the logic behind the intimidation tactics to ‘harass and scare’ citizens by misusing their powers.
“Uthayakumar was a prisoner of conscience and is now a free man, not some thief. It shows an erosion of human liberty (and the ability) to live peacefully in a multicultural Malaysian society. Malaysians don’t want a police state,” said the lawyer, who is in self-exile in London.
Uthayakumar was released unconditionally from the Kamunting Detention Camp on May 9 after being detained for 514 days under the Internal Security Act.
He was one of five Hindraf leaders detained after staging a mammoth protest in November 2007 which saw some 20,000 Indian Malaysians taking to the streets.
The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader said he holds Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan responsible for this.
Uthayakumar, who also intends to lodge a police report soon, said this has been going on for the last 18 months.
More recently, he claimed to have seen a white van parked near his condominium for the past two weeks, with policemen moving in and out of the vehicle.
This, he said, has confirmed his suspicion that he is under round-the-clock surveillance. He also believes that his phone conversations are being tapped.
“It is a violation of my civil liberties and individual freedom, as provided under Article 5 of the federal constitution. The police are not even sparing my in-laws, nephews and nieces,” said Uthayakumar, who is a lawyer.
He cited separate incidents that took place at his condominium in Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur, over the weekend.
The first occurred on Saturday while he was in Penang to meet Hindraf activists At the time, only his in-laws and four of their grandchildren were at home.
At about 11pm, he said five policemen paid a ‘courtesy call’ but “left after asking questions about me”.
“But their threatening and intimidating manner scared the living daylights out of my in-laws,” he told Malaysiakini.
The police also allegedly took photos inside and outside the apartment.
Second incident
The second incident happened on Sunday night when Uthayakumar had returned home. This time there were only two policemen.
“I told them to nab the real criminals outside rather than wasting their resources by monitoring me,” he said.
“This form of harassment is tantamount to a police state and reflects badly on the home minister, IGP and above all, the prime minister.”
When contacted, Uthayakumar’s younger brother and fellow Hindraf leader Waythamoorthy (right) slammed the police intrusion as “unlawful” given that they did not show a search warrant.
He questioned the logic behind the intimidation tactics to ‘harass and scare’ citizens by misusing their powers.
“Uthayakumar was a prisoner of conscience and is now a free man, not some thief. It shows an erosion of human liberty (and the ability) to live peacefully in a multicultural Malaysian society. Malaysians don’t want a police state,” said the lawyer, who is in self-exile in London.
Uthayakumar was released unconditionally from the Kamunting Detention Camp on May 9 after being detained for 514 days under the Internal Security Act.
He was one of five Hindraf leaders detained after staging a mammoth protest in November 2007 which saw some 20,000 Indian Malaysians taking to the streets.
21/06/09
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